DELLA EVANS

By Toni Hopkins

Della Barr Evans was a grade school child in 1941 when the second World War broke out.  The war was something that everyone knew about, everyone followed events closely, and they worried about friends and loved ones who were involved.  For Della, life didn't change too very much.

School stayed the same, but the subjects started to circle around the war.  They held a mandatory scrap drive at Riparia School, the one-room school that Della attended.  Scrap metal was in demand in the war effort and so school kids all over America were sent out to scour the countryside for metal and also tires.  The metal was shipped off to make things for the war.  No one is quite sure what happened to all the tires.  The kids at Riparia did better than they thought they would do, gathering twice as much metal as they expected to gather.

The day Pearl Harbor was bombed, Della was out riding her horse.  Though it was a surprise that the Japanese had bombed Hawaii, it wasn't a surprise to her they were going to do something big.  Della quoted her father as often saying that it was going to happen sometime.  Della said even she knew the beginning of the war was soon to come. 

When the war ended with the dropping of the Atomic Bomb everyone was overjoyed, according to Della Evans.  No one wanted the war to go on any more than it already had.  They were happy about the bomb, but no one really knew what it was.  They didn't know what "atomic" meant.  The bomb was a total surprise.  That it happened was a huge relief and no one showed any sympathy for those who started the war.  No one felt sorry.  They thought that the Japanese deserved what they got for causing so much grief, hate, and hurt during World War II. 

Della told about her husband, Bill, who lived in Rattlesnake north of Prosser.  Every day he could watch the Hanford area, but he and his family had no idea what was going on down there.

During the war, Della said, everyone was urged to buy War Bonds and Saving Stamps.  Those red stamps had "America On Guard" printed on them.  According to a Savings Card Della still has, "Savings stamps are available in denominations of $0.10, $0.25, $050, $1, and $5.  They may be purchased in any amount and may, when affixed to savings cards or albums, be cashed at any postal-savings post office or applied toward the purchase of postal-savings certificates or United States savings bonds."

Della smiled, "I saved so much I guess I saved them forever."  Although she still has some savings stamps and a Savings Card she has kept all these years, the bonds she bought were turned into cash after the war was won.

Della also kept a War Ration Book that included the instruction "This book is valuable.  Do not lose it."  Della didn't. 

The instructions also stated, "Rationing is a vital part of your country's war effort.  Any attempt to violate the rules is an effort to deny someone his share and will create hardship and help the enemy.  This book is your government's assurance of your right to buy your fair share of certain goods made scarce by war.  Price ceilings have also been established for your protection.  Dealers must post these prices conspicuously.  Don't pay more.  Give your whole support to rationing and thereby conserve our vital goods.  Be guided by the rule: If you don't need it, DON'T BUY IT."

Ration stamps were issued by a Local Ration Board, then the stamps were used as you purchased rationed goods, and the person selling those goods had to collect the stamps.  Gas, shoes, meat, sugar, and tires were some of the items that cost the most stamps.  Some ration stamps had pictures of tanks on them, and each stamp was numbered.

Della Evans had the pleasure of editing a book titled Rural Reflections which contained a story titled "Gold Star Mother" by Norma Dipple.  Della says, "When I was a youngster during the war and went to town, the houses along the streets would have stars hung in the windows.  Those were red, white, and blue, signifying they had a son or daughter in the service.  When that son or daughter was killed, they were given a banner with a gold star.

"When I was putting Norma's story in the Rural Reflections book, I wanted a picture of one of those gold star banners so I went to the library in Colfax.  The librarians had never heard of such a thing.  Something that was so important when I was young had been completely dropped. 

"There was a Mother in Lacrosse who lost her son and every year until she died, she would plant in her front yard a floral display designed as the Gold Star Banner to honor all the Gold Star Mothers."

The Gold Star Mothers organization was formed in 1929 to help veterans in VA hospitals and other centers by donating thousands of hours visiting, writing letters for them, sewing lap robes, and aiding them with personal needs.

Della now lives near LaCrosse, Washington, where she teaches her grandchildren all about the war and its history.  She has made several trips to Washington, DC taking her grandchildren with her and showing them the memorials and telling them the history of the war.  She will never forget that war and all than happened to so many people.